Insitu Inc., a Boeing company, has been awarded a $53,965,378 contract to procure four full-rate production, Lot II RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aircraft systems and eight attrition air vehicles, the US Department of Defense announced on August 21.

An RQ-21A Blackjack assigned to Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron (VMU) 2 is launched during Frozen Badger on Fort McCoy, Wis., Jan. 29, 2018
(Credit: U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Jailine L. Martinez)

This contract includes delivery of seven attrition air vehicles for the US Marine Corps and one for the government of Poland, the Pentagon added.

Additionally, this contract award includes the procurement of ground control stations, launch and recovery equipment, shipboard equipment kits as well as systems engineering and program management support.

"Work will be performed in Bingen, Washington (70 percent); and Hood River, Oregon (30 percent), and is expected to be completed in June 2019. (...) The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity," the service said.

The RQ-21A Blackjack is designed to operate off a Marine Expeditionary Unit in support of ground forces deployed worldwide. UAS requirements have evolved and the US Marine Corps has refined its concept of operations to incorporate rapidly emerging technologies in its unmanned systems.

The RQ-21A Blackjack can safeguard military bases and activities through a pattern of life identification and explosive device detection. It is equipped with an electro-optic/infrared payload that supports the real-time monitoring to provide indications and threat warnings, and its plug-and-play payloads enable multi-intelligence capability to support a broad range of operations.